Filmlageret

Amager, Copenhagen

GOAL no. 3, 11, 12

The spools of film are gone, and new residents have moved into the former warehouse on the island of Amager. Clever utilization of every square metre provides both individual and communal living spaces.

Major cities are running out of room to grow, and students are among the population groups most affected by immediate housing shortages. An added urgent social issue is the prevalence of loneliness.

For many years, the Danish Film Institute stored film in this 1930s warehouse. Today, the transformed building contains 37 compact living spaces for young people with nine additional flats in the new adjacent building linked to it by an elevated walkway two stories up. The building shows its industrial heritage throughout, for example in the preserved concrete girders. The ceiling is lined with acoustic plaster and features four new skylights.

Community was a key focus in the design of this co-living complex. The design of the compact student flats, each 33–44 m2, and the other flats leaves room for communal areas on every floor: living rooms, three kitchens, a laundry facility, a cinema, a rooftop patio with a herb garden and a large, green courtyard. The spacious communal kitchen and the student flats have bed lofts and often neglected spaces such as stairwells, lifts and passages feature small niches, seating and aesthetically inviting materials.

Spatial optimization allows many and varied rooms and spaces. The colours of the rooms extend into the window frames on the white exterior walls. For example, the sunny communal study and living space has red concrete flooring, yellow window frames and a built-in seating element with yellow upholstery.

This project demonstrates that colours and unique elements can tie new and old together and that rethinking and optimizing spaces can create a varied setting for communal living. With diverse flat options allowing for different lifestyles, there is room for people to expand their lives and develop a strong community.

Project details

Where: Strandlodsvej 3 + 5, 2300 Copenhagen S

Completed: 2021

Client: Mitco Ejendomme

Architects: Spacon & X

Bornholm

A green rock in the sea

Denmark’s most easterly island, Bornholm, is located in the Baltic Sea, geographically close to the south of Sweden which shares many of its natural and geological features. In contrast to the rest of Denmark, much of the island consists of rock. However, its southern coast is characterized by long, white sandy beaches.

Bornholm is just under 600 km2 with a coastline of 158 km. The main town, Rønne, which is located on the island’s west coast, is the gateway to the island with a ferry port and an airport. Due east from Rønne, on the opposite coast, is the second-largest town, Nexø, which has the island’s largest fishing port. Apart from the town of Åkirkeby, which is centrally located between these two towns, the main population centres are in the north of the island where a string of small towns dot the coast. From 1900 to 1968, there was a rail link between Rønne and Nexø; for part of this period, the railway also extended to some of the towns on the north coast. Later, cars took over, and today, large sections of the tracks have been converted into bicycle routes to the benefit of the many cycling tourists who come to the island every year. In the heart of Bornholm is Almindingen, the oldest and most beautiful part of the large forest that covers much of the centre of the island.

There have been kings and prefects on Bornholm but never squires. Hence, the largest buildings on Bornholm are fortresses and churches. The island has three medieval fortresses: Gamleborg, Lilleborg and Hammershus, the latter being the largest fortification in Northern Europe. Hammershus is close to the northern tip of Bornholm with views in every direction and well protected by steep, unscalable escarpments and only a single entrance. The four round churches in the towns of Nylars, Nyker, Olsker and Østerlars also date back to the early Middle Ages when they served both as houses of worship and as defensive structures and stores. Inside, the round churches are decorated with some of the island’s oldest murals.

Exquisite half-timbered houses

Old, preserved neighbourhoods in the towns contain both large former farmhouses and small, modest fishermen’s cottages. Until the 1950s, the ideal was that every family, no matter how poor, should own their own home.

Until the 20th century, many of the houses on the island were based on a particular traditional model, a sort of early modular timber frame construction. This standardization produced harmonious buildings and streets. Due to the lack of timber at the time, Bornholm timber frames developed into one of the most simplified forms known. The gap between the timbers is quite wide, about two metres, and there is hardly any use of diagonal braces. Around 1800, the use of horizontal beams on top of the stone sill was abandoned, and in a further simplification, the oak timbers were now mounted directly on the sill.

Bomb houses

While the rest of Denmark was celebrating the advent of peace and freedom at the conclusion of WWII, the towns of Rønne and Nexø were under heavy Russian bombardment on 7 and 8 May 1945. The result was widespread devastation. Many houses were reduced to rubble, many more were badly damaged, and about one third of the two towns’ combined population of 14,000 people were homeless.

Thomas Havning, then chairman of the Danish Association of Architects, was quick to act. Just a few days later, on 12 May 1945, he initiated the establishment of Arkitekthjælpen (Architects’ Aid) with local Bornholm architect Willy Hansen at the helm. With free consultation from Arkitekthjælpen, the destroyed cities were rebuilt in a beautiful symbiosis between surviving buildings and new-builds. The so-called bomb houses were beautifully planned and designed and remain highly sought-after to this day.

Shortly after the bombardments, the Swedish state sent Denmark the generous gift of 300 timber houses complete with supplies for the installation of gas, water, electricity, sanitary facilities and heating. The timber houses came in three types, all equipped to the highest Swedish standards at the time with central heating, hot running water, modern kitchens with stainless steel sinks, bathrooms with WCs and windows with coupled frames. These houses, too, remain in high demand.

Tourists and depopulation

Population numbers have been shrinking since 1965, and today the total population of Bornholm is about 40,000. However, in recent years, the island has seen an influx of young families, newcomers as well as natives of Bornholm who return to raise a family. The municipality aims to increase the population and is currently undertaking a programme to create 1,200 new dwellings.

The commercial sector is also seeing significant growth, and unemployment is at an all-time low. In fact, the island lacks skilled and specialist labour, not least because many young people still leave in order to seek education elsewhere. To counteract this, there is an active ongoing effort to build attractive local communities and general and vocational upper secondary education.

Tourism and local food production are Bornholm’s main business sectors. The island is Denmark’s third most popular municipality for coastal holidays and welcomes about 650,000 tourists annually. There are ongoing efforts to expand the tourist season in order to bring more life to the island year-round. In addition to the unique landscape features and natural settings, the island is also known for gastronomy, its many independent craft makers and its tradition for ceramics and glass art.

Green island

Bornholm is investing in green energy and has been pursuing the Bright Green Island strategy since 2007. The vision for the island is to be fully sustainable and carbon-neutral by 2025. The Bright Green Island vision helps attract new companies and business-promoting activities and aims to make Bornholm the world’s first ‘energy island’, making it possible to establish large wind farms at sea far from the coast.